METRO: The Last Bond
by Sda209
Summary: One hundred years have passed; the Fire Nation is nearing victorious, the Air Nomads and Guardians are all but exterminated. One man from the Southern Water Tribe is about to discover his powers and who he truly is...


**A/N - 5/7/2013: I am putting this story on hiatus. That doesn't mean I won't stop writing the chapters. As soon as I am done with at least one of my stories, I'll update METRO IF I MADE ANY CHAPTERS IN THE COURSE OF ITS HIATUS.**

* * *

BOOK I:

Water and Ice

* * *

Chapter I:

The Boy in the Iceberg

* * *

_Water_

_Earth_

_Fire_

_Air_

These elements divide our world into the four respective nations; the ancient Water Tribes of the North and South Poles, the mighty Earth Kingdom of the East, the destructive Fire Nation of the West, and the noble Air Nomads of the Air Temples. Out of all of the benders there is only one individual who is capable of mastering of all of the four elements.

That individual is the Avatar.

The Avatar is the master of all four elements. He protects our world and preserves peace, order, and the balance. In a time where peace is dominant, the four nations lived together in harmony.

Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

Only the Avatar is able to stop the ruthless firebenders, but when the world needed him the most, he vanished. One hundred years have passed, and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. All of the Air Nomads were exterminated in a mass genocide, for it was said the Avatar would be born into their race. The Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom remained in the war fighting in an endless battle for survival.

However, another entity of divine power exists.

They're known as the Guardians. These beings are an ancient race of spirits that take on a form of a human. Like the Avatar, they protect and maintain order, peace, and the balance of the entire universe. All Avatars share a spiritual bond with one Guardian partner, meaning if either were to have fallen, the other would join his fate.

The Guardians of our world are capable of controlling two elements, as opposed to commanding all four. When the Avatar disappeared, the Guardians fought valiantly against the Fire Nation. Alas, as a result over the remaining years, the Guardians were all but exterminated because of the Avatar's disappearance. Rumor has it that one remains, hiding somewhere in the most reclusive areas in the world.

One such Guardian and Avatar will meet, and the two are the last of their kind.

Their names are Katagu and Aang...

* * *

He roared a loud yawn as he removed himself from his sleeping bag. Katagu groggily, yet nearly energetically stumbled outside, flipping his tent flap as he made his exit. The sun is still rising in the eastern horizon, emitting only a faint orange-yellow glow that hardly gave any light. The nineteen-year old stretched his arms, legs, and body out, then began to stroll around the small village of the Southern Water Tribe.

It was much more larger and prosperous in happier days, when his siblings were younger and he was just a teenager at the time, around Katara's present age. He vividly remembers the children playing around, the parents watching them with warmed hearts, and the other male teenagers his age-be it lower and higher-training with the adults to be warriors.

Although, he refused to become one (Katagu is waterbender), he did trained sometimes in the case water is not available for his use. Katagu also reminisces that day was where a celebration was held in honor of becoming a master waterbender. The day was going so smoothly, that he might just think this could be one of his best days.

If everything did not went to hell.

There were so many villagers screaming, dying and running from danger in great terror, carrying the panicking and frightened small children. He was fighting off a few firebenders with his fellow waterbenders, and when he entered their mother's igloo after hearing a horrific scream that came from a very well-known voice-

Katagu abolished the nightmarish thought from his mind. He didn't want to recall that day; that devastating day—he wished to simply bury every single minute of it and permanently lock it up somewhere in the dark depths of his mind, forgotten and lost.

Katagu became a master waterbender the day before the Fire Navy raid happened. After the tribe's shocking defeat, he retreated into hiding in the arctic wilderness and somehow, against all odds, managed to evade capture from the Fire Navy parties. After surviving for a week, Katagu returned to the village, aghast by the damage that was done.

"What happened to my fellow waterbenders?" he asked one villager. When the villager answered what happened to the rest of them, Katagu found himself distraught that all of the waterbenders were captured and imprisoned by the Fire Navy, or deceased.

Katagu made a promise that day, to protect everyone he held so dear, teach the eight-year old Katara the arts of waterbending, and never flee like a coward like he did in the Southern Water Tribe's greatest need. Ever. He cursed himself for the death of their mother, Kya. The master waterbender will never forgive himself—it was because of him, Kya is gone forever. She is now with the spirits of the Water Tribe.

He wanted to be strong and fearless, and never to be weak again.

Katagu continued to stride, deep in his thoughts. The walking helped him to focus his mind better. Sometimes, he would meditate for a much more meliorated concentration to a point where it would break from surprise because in some way, meditation allowed him to see spirits.

Katagu breathed in the chilly arctic air, exhaling out the hot air, forming a fog when it touched the cold. The nineteen-year old loved the mornings; they were relatively silent, peaceful, and he is able to have all the time to himself before hunting.

Deciding to head out of the village, he trekked to a nearby river not too far off from his village. The master waterbender peered over the icy edge, gazing at himself. Katagu's facial features is a mixture of Southern Water Tribe and something mysterious, which definitely did not belong to any of the four nations. His jet black hair (tied into a short ponytail), which has outgrown for a bit, appears not to be his tribe's physical trait (despite being dark brown), but his green-blue eyes seemed to fit the category enough, at least in Katagu's opinion.

In spite of his frame seeming to be thin as icicles, he is actually much more leaner and stronger than at first glance. Through thoroughly-close observation, his muscles are limber and thick. His dark skin-tone is one of the few physical traits, besides his mixture of Water Tribe and unknown facial features, he has that deems to be a Water Tribe trait.

Unlike virtually all of the males of the Southern Water Tribe, Katagu is fond of reading books or scrolls, depending on the nation, as his name describes him. He doesn't like to participate in violence-related activities or combat, and would usually prefer to read a scroll or book, help around the village, especially performing the chores with Katara, walk around in thought around, or teach his sister waterbending and himself icebending rather than to join his father to fight in the war, or train to be a warrior (in spite of his basic training for warriors).

It's shocking to Hadoka, the three siblings' father, and Sokka, but the leader of the Southern Water Tribe didn't seem to mind it that much, as he has grown to love Katagu's antics, much to Sokka's great dismay and protest.

Katagu's attire is mainly a thick fur coat with cotton cuffs, mittens, and seal leather boots. All of the villagers dressed in a similar style to keep warm from the unforgiving freezing cold of the South Pole. Sometimes, he questioned why the Southern Water Tribe would pick such a harsh environment to live. But he had to brush that thought away; Katagu's eyes began to scan around the arctic waters, searching for any sign of a rippling effect or hearing for the sound of moving water.

After spotting no movement or catching the sound of swaying water, the nineteen-year old removed his right mitten and dipped his bare hand into the freezing water bank. The moment the water made contact with his middle finger, he sensed a great surge of massive movement from all but upper directions. He sunk his right hand further, reaching a part of his lower right arm (which he had to roll it up), and started to move his hand in a waving motion. A few moments have passed, and in front of a now-standing Katagu is a small, hovering bubble of water bearing arctic cod.

The master waterbender began to travel back to the village, realizing he forgotten to bring a basket with him. Upon returning, the sun, although it is still trying to catch up with time, had finally peered from the edge of the world into its full morning glory of bright gray. It is always dark, even in daytime. Sokka explains that this alien phenomenon has to do with the earth being tilted, and the location of the South Pole. Although Katagu believed that was his brother speaking senselessly again, he had to admit it seems logical enough.

At least for him, which was strange considering everyone, even Katara and Gran-Gran, their grandmother, in the village brushed it off as nonsense.

Everyone had awaken from another night of peaceful slumber, and began milling about; the women prepared to clean the fish once Katagu has set down his catch, the children started to play with each other around mirthfully, and his two younger siblings, Katara and Sokka, exited from their perspective tents, yawning and stretching. He turned to greet them.

"Good morning you two," he said in a bass, gentle voice accented in a way that is unlike Water Tribe. "Had a good night's sleep?"

"Yep!" answered Sokka as the fifteen-year old warrior bends his body sideways. "Can't wait to start hunting-" he stopped speaking when he eyed his older brother's catch—it was enough to feed the village until nighttime.

"Come on now!" cried the irritated warrior. Katagu smirked. "Do not worry, Sokka. I'll take you and Katara on a hunting trip for dinner."

"But that would won't happen until tonight."

"We'll go in preparation for the feast for celebration of my twentieth birthday, and so we don't have to hunt in the dark," said the twenty-year old.

Katara spoke up. "Katagu's got a point there, Sokka. We don't have to worry about tonight if we're going to be on a fishing trip until sundown."

"Fine," he groaned, "we'll do it your way. Congratulations on your twentieth birthday, by the way."

"Yeah, congratulations Katagu," said a smiling Katara.

"Thank you, you two. Now let's get to preparing the fish for a good morning meal."

Katara and Katagu joined the other women helping to prepare the fish. Sokka went off to train the male children to prepare them for battle when their time comes (in their late teens and early adulthood, that is).

Thirty minutes have passed. The fish were being cooked and served at the village fire pit. The villagers, especially a voraciously-hungry Sokka, were enjoying their breakfasts. After finishing up, Katagu decided to visit Kanna, the grandmother of Sokka, Katara, and himself, at her igloo. Entering, Kanna looked up from her craft and gave a smile to her eldest grandson.

"Hello, Gran-Gran," greeted the twenty-year old. "Hello, Katagu. What do you need?" she replied, picking up a leather choker and something Katagu couldn't see.

"Katara, Sokka, and I are heading out to hunt for the feast."

"Alright, then. Please be safe and try not to injure yourself," said Kanna. The master waterbender knew her tone; he remembered another terrible day when he was assaulted by a sea lion in a hunting trip with Sokka. Katagu was nearly torn to shreds, but Sokka saved him at the last moment.

With all honesty, Katagu thought the day was kind of amusing.

"I will." He was about to exit the igloo when Kanna spoke up.

"One more thing, Katagu. Come here." Katagu walked over where his grandmother was sitting and sat on his knees. Kanna proceeded to add the final amends to her craft, and showed him what she was creating; it was a pendant of the symbol of the Water Tribe that looked much like the necklace Katara was wearing.

"Your mother wanted to give you this after she gave her own to Katara. She wasn't able to finish when the attack began, but I found it lying around and decided to make one for you and Sokka," explained Kanna. Katagu picked it from her hand and worn the leather choker around his neck.

"Thank you, Gran-Gran," said the waterbending master.

"You're welcome. Make sure to give this one to Sokka, as well." Kanna produced another one from her pocket and handed the necklace to Katagu.

"I'll make sure this will be delivered to Sokka, Gran-Gran."

"Good. Run along, now. I shouldn't be keeping you up with your hunting trip." Katagu spoke one last goodbye before heading out of the igloo. Katara and Sokka were waiting at the village entrance. He had an impatient expression on his face.

"There you are! What took you so long?" complained the warrior. "Gran-Gran wanted me to give you this," replied Katagu, opening his hand to reveal the pendant Kanna crafted.

"It looks like mine," said Katara, observing its surprisingly similar features.

"Our mother wanted to give Sokka and I our own after giving hers to you as a gift. She wasn't able to finish it because... well, all of us know..." replied an anxious Katagu. He definitely hoped he didn't returned those unimaginable memories in Katara, but she seemed calm enough.

"Here you go," said the twenty-year old, handing Sokka his pendant. He wrapped the choker around his neck, and it appears to fit the warrior enough.

"Wow, now all of us have the same necklaces," he murmered, staring at his pendant.

"That's true," replied Katara.

"Alright, you two," said the twenty-year old. "Let's head to the canoe. We have a feast to hunt, and it's not going to wait for us to catch it."

The freezing water was bare of any life, aside from the swimming arctic cod Sokka was trying to catch. His eyes focused on the swaying fish, spear in hand. The shaft was fashioned out of a bone of a seal, and the head came from the tooth of a sea lion.

"It's not getting away from me this time," he whispered to himself. "Watch and learn, Katara. This is how you catch a fish."

She was too focused on Katagu's lecture. He demonstrated some of the techniques he learned from the scrolls he read and practiced on. Hearing his younger brother's boast, Katagu shook his head in disappointment. They've already killed two sea lions and caught several fish, their corpses were on two canoes; the first one is where Sokka and Katara are riding on with the deceased sea lion behind them, and the second one is laying on Katagu's own canoe, along with the other catch.

While keeping it in motion by using the water as a means of movement, Katagu was teaching Katara the basics of creating ice from water.

"Once you have the water in your hand," explained the twenty-year old, "try to think of the water as ice, and try to form it into an edged weapon."

"But Katagu, only icebenders like you can do that," said Katara, forming the water that surrounded her hand into a shape of a blade.

"Waterbenders can turn water into ice," Katagu smiled as he morphed his free hand into an icicle, "while icebenders can manipulate ice into many forms with their body."

"That makes sense," she replied, recalling a previous lesson Katagu lectured her on the abilities and differences of icebenders; Katara was quite mystified that icebenders could perform such feat at the time.

The warrior was becoming peeved at his siblings' conversation interrupting his focus. He tried to focus further, but Katagu's is becoming quite a bit of a nuisance.

"Guys, be quiet, you're going to scare it away! Mm... I can smell it cooking."

Re-morphing his aforementioned free hand back into its original state, Katagu shot a glance at Sokka. _Maybe it would be a good idea to keep it down_, thought the master waterbender. He heard Katara finally managed to transform the blade-shaped water into solid ice.

"I-I did it, Katagu!" cried the fourteen-year old teenager. She was at loss with words with great astonishment in her blue-gray eyes. While he had quite a surprise, Katagu had to keep her voice down.

"Sokka, look-" The twenty-year old placed a hand on her arm where she morphed the ice blade. "Let him enjoy his own time," he said.

The warrior fortunately did not respond. He was too engaged in celebrating his catch impaled on his spear, which annoyed Katara.

"And I didn't get soaked by Katara's magic water this time!" Sokka exclaimed joyously. Suddenly, a ball of arctic water doused and extinguish the victorious flame burning in him. He turned to Katara, who was snickering, with an irate expression in his otherwise soaked face.

"I spoke too soon," the warrior whispered to himself. "Katara, you should really be more careful when playing with your 'waterbending'."

"It's not my fault you ignored me when I finally managed to morph an ice-blade with water," retorted the novice waterbender.

"You didn't have to soak me."

"Then why did you ignored me?" said Katara. "Because... because I caught a fish without Katagu's help! It's important, you wouldn't understand." The twenty-year old sighed, clasping the bridge of his nose with his fingers as the two continued to argue. He needed to stop this now from turning into a full-blown fight.

"And how would I not understand?" asked the fourteen-year old.

"He's always catching the fish with magic water, and I don't get to do anything! I feel like I am useless around here!" answered Sokka, shooting a glare of jealously at Katagu.

"There is no need to fight, Sokka," said the twenty-year old. "And its not 'magic', its 'waterbending', and its an-"

"Yeah, yeah, its an ancient art unique to our culture, blah, blah, blah." There was a hint of shock in Katagu's eyes, but he kept his face firm and stoic.

"You shouldn't brush off it off like that, Sokka."

"Katara may be weird, but you are even weirder. You don't even like to fight! All you do is read books or scrolls, hunt, cook, help Katara with the chores, and that's it. You can be such a girly-girl bookworm, sometimes."

"And how does that connect with my antics!" Katagu viciously snapped. The sudden outburst silenced Sokka, leaving he and Katara dumbfounded. While this isn't the first time Katagu had snapped and argued with the warrior, this the very first time he hollered at him.

"My mother loved me the way I am. I always enjoyed helping her around the village. Even my father too loved me, despite my differences. She would bring me books to read and waterbending scrolls to practice. Sokka, Katara and I loved our dear mother very much like you loved our dear father. Can't you see she's dead, because of me? I have failed my duty to keep her safe, and you're calling me a '_girly-girl bookworm_'!? Damn your horrendous words, Sokka! You do not understand our mother as well as Katara and I!"

Sokka, taken aback by Katagu's strained words, closed his eyes and lowered his head in great regret. There was perpetual silence that filled the soundless void of air. It was soon broken by the impact of a fall of a tear. Katagu knew where that tear came from.

That was the tear of Sokka.

"Katagu, I'm-"

Suddenly, their canoe bumped into something, interrupting his apology. Then, it was soon carried off by a strong and swift river current that had made a small path through the field of broken-up pieces of ice. The entire river was surrounded by a canyon, and in front of the three siblings lie an ominous tower of ice, roughly shaped like a head of a metal spear.

Katagu tried to stop their canoe, but his canoe bumped into what he realized is a small piece of ice and was caught in the current, breaking his concentration. The two canoes sped down the path, the wooden frames scraping several floating ice pieces. Sokka seized the oar and attempted an escape, while the master waterbender used the floating ice to clear a safe passage.

The two canoes finally reached steady waters, where the aforementioned towering iceberg loomed over them as if it was a pillar of evil. Katagu breathed a sigh of relief, Sokka was catching his breath, and Katara gazed at the iceberg and back at the field of broken ice.

"That was a close call," said the warrior. "Are the sea lions safe?" Katagu turned his head to the very end of his canoe; the corpse is still there, sitting contently.

"Yes," he answered loudly.

"Good. Now, let's head home!" The twenty-year old stopped him, and glanced at the tower-like iceberg that stands before the three siblings. Katagu had a very queasy feeling about the tower, as if it was going to break into many pieces at any second. There was another feeling that he couldn't quite figure out; it's nearly like he needs to crack it open with his icebending.

"You have that feeling, too?" asked the fourteen-year old, snapping Katagu back into the world. He nodded in response.

Suddenly the twenty-year old's legs involuntarily raised him up. His arms pointed at the icy structure, and performed an action that Sokka and Katara would never imagine him doing; his arms moved, ignoring his protesting will, in opposite directions, his fingers forming into claws. The motion appeared to be ripping something apart, which actually cleaved the tower cleanly in half, revealing a sphere of ice.

Suddenly, the skies and mood turned into a dark blue. The sphere began to illuminate a bright glowing shade of cyan. The cleaved ice debris fell into the arctic waters, splashing a huge wave that fortunately did not capsized the wooden canoes.

The iceberg too fell into the water, but it remained afloat. Katagu was surprised he still couldn't force his entire body to move. He can sense a surge of some sort of tingling energy flowing inside him. He leaped from his canoe with one jump. The icebender morphed his right arm into an icicle as he soared in the chilly air. It pierced through the ice, abruptly releasing a gust of mist and wind at his face.

Katagu no longer feels controlled, but alas, he couldn't react quickly and he plummeted into the iceberg, hitting the icy ground. He heard the iceberg fracturing before his mind disappeared into darkness.

* * *

Exiled Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation gazed at the strange beam of intense light. The cold, chilly wind did not seem to affect him, even with its speed, his ponytail seemed to sway in motion with the wind's failed attempts.

"Finally," he whispered.

Zuko turned to his uncle and retired general Iroh with a fierce expression of determination in his gold. He was enjoying his tea, its steam flowing out of the soothing liquid and the openings of the tea pot along with the cold wind, and was playing a game of Pai Sho on the wooden, dark red-painted table.

"Uncle, do you realize what this means?" asked Zuko.

"I won't get to finish my game?" he answered as his head moves up to face the banished prince, his hand gripping a ceramic card.

"It means my search is about to come to an end."

Iroh heaved a sigh. _When will he learn?_, thought the retired general. He placed the card onto a stack of the ceramic cards as Zuko continued.

"That light came from an incredibly powerful source; it has to be him!" Zuko said as he pointed at the light, which had dissipated into nothing.

"Or it's just the celestial lights," explained Iroh, waving up at the dimly-lit arctic sky with the card firmly held in his wrinkled fingers. "We been down this road before Zuko," he said. "I don't want to get you too excited over nothing. Please sit, why don't you enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?"

"I don't need a calming tea!" the prince snapped at Iroh. "I need to capture the Avatar!" turning to the towering bridge of his ironclad Fire Nation ship, he ordered the helmsman to head a course for the light. As he turned to point the location, Iroh sighed once more.

"I do hope you won't need one," he said, placing the card carved with the symbol of the water tribe into a stack, evening all out. A gust of wind passed, vibrating through the several stacks of ceramic cards and his tea cup and pot. Iroh wasn't fully concerned for Zuko's determination, he was worrying more on the new, terrifying allies of the Fire Nation residing in this deck, training, performing their daily routine.

He very much hoped Zuko won't use them if they came face-to-face with the Avatar.

* * *

Katagu found himself in some sort of strange booth. Observing his surroundings, he was left breathless by the sight. They were tall buildings of stone that reached up the cloudy sky. They were decrepit and in great ruin, as if there was a great battle that took place. The ground level weren't favored in this mysterious landscape; tens, maybe hundreds of metal wagon-like objects lay congested in a street. Trees were wrangled and seemed dead, birds of sorts flew around, consuming corpses.

They were human, dressed clad in a thick fabric with masks on their faces, and blood was all over them.

He heard a strident shriek of some sort of beast. The master waterbender sensed fear building in him. Peering through a transparent wall of sorts (he assumes to be a window covered by a wall of glass), it was just as he thought; a beast—a horrifically deformed winged beast-was circling around the small booth he was in.

When he looked at himself, he was very surprised that he wasn't wearing his fur coat or any of his apparel anymore. Instead, what took place is a thick suit of an unknown fabric, covered with a perpendicular belt that was clinging brass-colored stubs of a strange metal, possibly an unknown copper alloy.

Something hugged his face; a mask of some sort covered the entire front of his skull. For reasons beyond him, Katagu knew he shouldn't remove the mask, as much as he wanted to, otherwise... it could prove fatal. His hands held a strange and heavy metallic crossbow-like object (or was it something like a spear?). It didn't look like it could be made even by the best Fire Nation smiths, because of its apparent intricacy.

Turning back to the inside of the booth, the master waterbender saw something laying on the stony ground he wished he never even seen.

It was corpse of a woman. Her body seemed preserved, though it was a ghostly pale. Beside her was a few metal cylinders and strange flowers that shine like metal. What he spotted on the woman's hand was a writing utensil of a sort. The twenty-year old glanced slowly up, to find what appears to be a hastily-scribbled journal of her last days. He began reading it, but the language was alien to him, and yet, he seemed to know it very well.

It read:

_July 18__th__ – Intro: I am writing this because I am bored, and because I am going insane. I've been in this kiosk for three days now—I'm afraid to go outside. From the window I can see about ten people who didn't make it to the Metro, who suffocated and are still lying there. It's good that I had time to close the holes of the kiosk. I'll try to wait until the wind takes the cloud away. They wrote that in a day or two, the danger would disappear.  
_

_Danger? Metro? Suffocated? What has happened to this city? _Katagu was very relieved he didn't remove his mask, otherwise, he would've joined the fate of those poor fellows. The master waterbender continued to the very end, in spite of his growing anxiety:

July 9: _Tried to get into the Metro. There's a wall at the end of the escalator that wasn't there before. I knocked and knocked, but no one opened. After 10 minutes, I started feeling really bad, and came back here. There are a lot of corpses here, they all smell. I broke the window of a store, took some water and chocolate - at least now I won't starve. I feel very weak. There's a full safe of Dollars and Rubles, and I can't do anything with them. Turns out they're just papers._

July 10: _They kept on bombing. To my right, near Prospekta Myra there were explosions heard the entire day. It's strange - I thought that there was no one left, but yesterday a tank drove by. I tried to run outside, but didn't make it. I miss you, Mom and Lyov. I felt sick the whole day, threw up a few times. Then I fell asleep._

July 11: _A strangely burned man passed by my kiosk. Where was he hiding all this time? He kept on sobbing and coughing. It was very scary. He went down the escalator, and I heard loud thuds. He was probably banging on the same door I saw. Then everything went quiet. I'll see tomorrow, whether they opened the door for him._

July 12: _I can't leave. Rain was falling the whole day, and I couldn't tell whether I was sleeping or not. I spoke with Lyov today for a whole hour. He promised he would marry me. Then mom came - her eyes poured out of her head. Then I was alone again. I'm so lonely. When is this all going to end, when will someone rescue us? Some dogs came, and ate the corpses. Finally, thanks. Felt sick and threw up._

July 13: _I've still got some food left - canned food, chocolate, and water, but I don't want anymore. At least a year will pass before everything returns to normal. The Great Patriotic War went on for five years - nothing could be longer than that. Everything will be okay. Someone will find me._

July 14: _I don't want this anymore. I don't want this anymore. Bury me with dignity, and not in this infernal kiosk. I'm suffocating. Thanks, Phenazepam. Good night._

"My God..." said Katagu in a near-inaudible whisper. "What has happened to the world?"

Before he could think further, the creature smashed through the window. The wind blew in, revealing that the outside was cold as the arctic of the South Pole. The icebender acted on instinct and morphed his hand into a blade.

Only to find out it failed.

He tried and tried again, but those attempts were all left in vain. Katagu was now very afraid; his bending was gone, and he didn't know how to operate this alien weapon. Somehow, as if he had previous knowledge, the master waterbender pulled the trigger, releasing a small volley of projectiles at the creature. It cracked loudly with each shot; he winced at the boom it makes, but ignores the loud ringing in his ears. The creature, although injured, did not faltered and attempted to seize Katagu. He was in the beast's grasp and it took off with him.

He could do nothing but scream as the beast released him. The twenty-year old plummeted, falling in a free-fall. Katagu hit the ground before he could think anything else.

* * *

He woke up with a fright. Katagu searched himself and glanced around the environment. Everything was normal; his clothes, his environment, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was all but a horrific nightmare.

But he had doubts. The nightmare feels too real to be a figment. Maybe it was lucid? No, he should already know he's awake. Something was nagging him, that this nightmare was... a memory, a past experience.

Katagu dashed up the slope as he created stairs from the ice before he could finished his thought, too focused on the condition of the situation. Sliding down, he glimpsed Katara held the boy in her arms and Sokka was... being Sokka.

"Stop it!" she ordered, stopping the warrior's unnecessary jabbing the figure's head with his spear.

The novice waterbender turned back to it as Katagu came running to see the figure. He has taken a good note of the figure. It was a young twelve-year old male whose attire is a monk's clothing, as the twenty-year old realized. He is surprisingly bald, but that particular feature wasn't the reason he sensed hope, the sky-blue arrow tattoos on his forehead and hands is noticeably striking.

_But that could mean... he's a master airbender_, thought Katagu. The boy began to stir. His eyes opened, letting him see Katara's irises staring straight into his own. Katagu heard a gasp from the boy, and began to think something that he knew was too farfetched and insane for his own good.

They could become more than friends, if the boy isn't an enemy.

"Please, I need to ask you something," he asked in a strained whisper. "What?" said a curious Katara.

"Come closer."

"What is it?"

Katagu could see his fourteen-year old sister leaning in. He wondered what the boy had to say. What he has to say is very well shocking.

"Will you go penguin sliding with me?" asked the boy.

"Uh... sure, I guess," answered Katara, unsure if his question was literal or actual. Leaving him, the boy lifted himself off the ground without using any of his arms. Sokka, Katara, and Katagu were stunned to see him performing such a feat.

"What's going on?" asked the boy as his eyes searched around his surroundings.

"You tell us!" cried Sokka. "How did you get into the ice, and why aren't you frozen?" he asked as he poked the boy with the pointed end of his spear.

"I'm not sure," he answered, waving off the warrior's spear. Katagu observed the boy with great intent; he is very much certain he is the airbender, and he's the last of his kind, which could mean only one thing.

This boy is the Avatar.

Before the master waterbender could ask, a beastly bellow originated from the iceberg, which is now nothing more than a crater. The boy immediately clambered up the ice slope. Reaching the top, the three siblings witnessed him jumping up and hearing him slide down, followed by his question.

"Appa, are you alright?" the three began to circumvent around the ice wall to the entrance to the crater.

"Wake up, buddy." They heard him say. Moments later, the three heard the grunted sounds of the boy as if he was attempting to lift him up. When Sokka, Katara and Katagu reached the entrance, the three were at a complete lost of words, especially the warrior, who gaped in astonishment.

The mysterious boy seems to be trying to awaken a beast of some sort. It was a gigantic bison-like creature with vanilla-white fur, six appendages, a set of two horns, a saddle with reins attached to said horns, and a dark arrow that appeared to be exactly like the shape of the boy's arrow tattoos. The bison-like creature suddenly licked the underside of the boy.

"Hey, you're okay!" the boy laughed. Its legs lifted its huge frame off the ground, then the creature began to vigorously shake itself, all the way up to its tail.

"What is that thing?" asked Sokka as he, Katara and Katagu cautiously observed the bison.

"This is Appa, my flying bison," answered the boy.

"Right, and this is Katara and Katagu, my flying siblings," replied the warrior with a sarcastic tone.

The flying bison abruptly began to growl, shifting its nostrils with great discomfort. The boy backed away as the bison out of the sudden sneezed a fairly-sized green ball of goop. The disgusting mass splashed all over Sokka, who immediately tried to remove it from his coat and face.

"Don't worry, it'll wash out," assured the boy. The fifteen-year old separated his hand from his cheek, which revealed that the goop is very sticky. Katagu and Katara stared at the unsanitary scene with signs of appall visible in their eyes..

"So, do you guys live around here?" he asked.

"Don't answer that," answered Sokka, brandishing his spear at the boy. "Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy."

The master waterbender stepped in and held the tip of Sokka's spear. He glared brightly at the warrior. "I have high doubts that this boy is a spy for the Fire Navy. His clothing tells the truth."

"They could be a disguise."

"Since when master airbenders work for the Fire Navy, Sokka?"

Katara turned to the boy with an astonished expression on her face. "You're an airbender!"

"Sure am," replied the boy.

"Giant light beams, flying bison, airbenders," said the warrior, "I think I have Midnight-Sun Madness. I'm going home where stuff make sense."

Sokka proceeded to set himself down on the seat of the wooden canoe, preparing for departure. The boy looked on with curiosity in his eyes.

"The paranoid one is Sokka," Katara said, catching the boy's attention. "You never told us your name."

"I'm-" out of the blue, his name began to falter as his nose twitched. At the climax, he sneezed with great force, sending a gust of wind upon himself, throwing him up into the air. Upon falling, his feet slid on the ice slope and he arrived in front of the two waterbenders.

"I'm Aang," the master airbender finished, rubbing his nose.

"You just sneezed," Katagu heard Sokka say, "and flew ten feet into the air!"

"Really? It felt higher than that."

Katagu observed Aang further with a critical eye. He already figured out that he's an airbender—a master airbender—and he would want to know if he is truly the Avatar. The master waterbender walked up to the boy, taking a deep breath.

"Hey, Aang-"

"Katagu, we're going!" turning to the voice, Sokka was waving his arms as Katara prepared for departure. Her head turned to Aang.

"Aang, are you coming?"

The master airbender responded with a goofy grin. "Of course, I am! I can come with you with Appa!"

Then Sokka began to snicker. Katagu, as he set himself down and too ready for departure, glared at his brother with irritation in his eyes.'

"You seriously think, out of the things, that _flying bison _can fly? That's totally ridiculous!" The twenty-year old witnessed Katara bending out a small blob of arctic water. He knew what Katara intended; she dropped it on the now-laughing Sokka's face. Immediately, his face grew from amusement to sourness.

"Hey!"

"That's what you get for not believing Aang," then, another blob of arctic water smashed into Sokka's bewildered face, only it was frozen. He howled as he heard an unnatural crack in his protesting nose.

"And that's for insulting Katagu and I earlier."

"I was about to say sorry, okay!"

Aang raised a finger, about to speak, but he lowered his hand down and decided not to ask, for fear of striking another nerve. The young airbender dashed and hopped onto Appa's furry head, grabbing onto the reins.

"You sure you don't want to experience flight?"

"I'll try," said Katagu. He vacated his canoe (much to Sokka's dismay) and rushed up to Appa's saddle.

"Don't complain, Sokka," scorned Katara. "Think of it as punishment for your misbehavior."

"Ugh... fine..." The warrior picked up a bundle of rope from the floor of the canoe and secured it tightly around the top of Katagu's canoe. Checking to make sure it is stable, Sokka signaled that the canoe is ready.

"Thanks, Sokka," said Aang.

"Alright, first-time flier, hold on tight!"

He jounced the reins on Appa. The sky bison crouched down, holding its tail up high. It launched itself into the air, above the arctic water, but plummeted and splashed in, albeit floating. Katagu was quite disappointed. He read about these amazing creatures, and he hoped to ride in one someday. He had the opportunity to meet an airbender and sky bison, but it appears it was somewhat exhausted.

"Appa's just tired," explained Aang, raising the master waterbender's spirits up. "With just enough rest, he'll be soaring in no time! You'll see."

Turning to Katara, Katagu called her out.

"Katara, would you like to come up here and practice?" he offered. The novice waterbender merrily accepted, which left Sokka into a whiny and riled heap. With the help of Katagu's icebending, she strode up on the icy stairs and sat next to Katagu, her and his legs crossed as the stairs morphed back into the waters.

"Wow, you're an icebender?" asked an intrigued Aang. He has heard of these icebenders; the legends say that they can form clones of themselves with ice, and are capable of transforming their body into ice.

"Yes. I'm a master waterbender and I'm currently training Katara to become a master, as well," said Katagu.

"You're a waterbender!" cried the master airbender at Katara. Katagu spotted the blush that crawled like a pink light on her cheeks, and chuckled in his mind.

"Well... I am... but I haven't completely learned to control my bending yet," she replied. Katara started to notice that Aang has been smiling at her in an unusual way for reasons beyond him. _Maybe those too will get along and become more than friends someday,_ he thought.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" the fourteen-year old asked curiously, unknowingly snapping Katagu out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I was smiling?" he answered, turning away from them, which, fortunately for him, had hidden a light flush from her. Katagu had a very anxious feeling clinging inside him, tingling and shaking his spine and insides. He had a feeling—a possibly cryptic feeling.

They might have to leave home... maybe for good...

But that wasn't the only feeling. That 'nightmare' he recently experienced, was just too real to be one. Maybe it's something from a forgotten past that was never explained or mentioned to him at all, until today.

He needed to find out what did that nightmare means, and if it was really a nightmare.


End file.
